Kanawha County residents are one step closer to being able to hunt on Sundays.
The Kanawha County Planning Commission approved a recommendation to the County Commission to put Sunday hunting on the ballot after holding a public hearing Wednesday.
Hunting only would be permitted on private land with written permission from the owner, not on public property.
The Planning Commission passed the approval with five voting yes, two voting no, and one person abstaining.
The handful of people who attended the meeting were in favor of the ordinance. No one spoke out against it.
Kem Shaw, wildlife biologist with the Division of Natural Resources, said allowing Sunday hunting would not have a negative impact on the state's wildlife.
In Kanawha County, there is 798 square miles of good deer habitat, Shaw said. The goal of DNR is to see 2 bucks killed per square mile in the Southern part of the county and 3.5 bucks in the northern section, Shaw said.
"If voters decided to go with that (approving Sunday hunting), it won't negatively impact the deer herd," Shaw said. "We have a healthy deer herd. In most places we could actually kill more deer than we do."
The statute would allow for 25 additional days of hunting during the year if passed.
Shaw emphasized the law would only allow Sunday hunting on privately owned land with written permission from the landowner.
"It's harder to kill deer on private land than it is public land," Shaw said. "Most public areas we have a lot of hunting pressure already."
Commission member J.D. Stricklen said he's concerned about the irresponsible hunters who don't follow the law.
"A lot of people out hunting are not responsible. It's a full time job keeping gates up, posted signs up," Stricklen said. "It's just amazing to me the recklessness. Normally during the two week deer season, I don't go into the woods - you're trying to control the property with people carrying guns."
Commissioner Mark Shamblin said the irresponsible hunters will break the rules regardless of whether the motion is put on the ballot.
"I still have outlaws hunting on my property with or without the ordinance," Shamblin said.
"The non-law abiding citizens are still going to hunt and the law abiding citizens are punished."
Most of the letters the Planning Commission received prior to the meeting were in favor of putting Sunday hunting on the ballot.
Bryan Rawson, of Sissonville, wrote "Folks that make the argument that they would like a day to walk in the woods without fear of hunters (are) simply ignoring the fact that they are landowners. They would have to give written permission for someone to hunt on their land, just like they would have to do for any other day that someone wanted to legally hunt on another person's property."
Teresa Koon, a resident and landowner in Kanawha County wrote letter against placing Sunday hunting on the ballot, citing she's an avid hiker and outdoor enthusiast.
"It is scary to hike during hunting season Monday through Saturday and it is at least good to know that I can hike on Sunday without concern for a stray bullet hitting myself or my dog," Koon wrote.
"Hunters have six other days to roam freely. Even if they're not allowed to hunt on my property, I am surrounded by woods and animals know no boundaries."
Jason Webb, of Cross Lanes, spoke in favor of putting the statute on the ballot. Webb cited the high occurrence of car crashes caused by deer.
A West Virginia resident has a 1 in 40 chance of colliding with a deer, he said.
"In the last two years alone, there has been 27,000 deer killed by vehicle collisions in state of West Virginia," Webb said.
"West Virginia has the highest per capita incident of deer collisions in the country according to State Farm."
In 2001, all but 14 counties chose not to allow hunting on Sundays.
However, since 2014, nine counties have reinstated Sunday hunting. Six counties surrounding Kanawha County allow hunting on Sundays.
Reach Laura Haight
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